2009 Jeep Compass Sport 4x4

April 14, 2009

Transcript

>> It's the Jeep that really isn't one. An urbanized little grocery getter you probably shouldn't take too far off the road. Two thousand nine Compass Sport. So, how's the tech?
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>> [snoring] Oh. Sorry. You see inside the Compass, it's pretty boring. Techwise. This basic head unit is [laughs] basic. AM/FM, single disc CD. Plays mp3. Sirius satellite radio there. Aux jack. You can option that up to get a unit with a six and a half inch touch screen that will have a grace note CD database. So 30 gig drive. No nav, though, is available in any configuration. No iPod adapter. You can get a DVD player in here with the upgraded head unit so you can watch movies on the screen while parked, but there's no rear-seat entertainment system available, and all the other sorts of tech that we're starting to get used to these days, it doesn't happen on a vehicle in this trim level. We do, however, have an upgraded Bose acoustic output system speakers and amps. Three hundred and sixty-eight watts to the speakers plus another 90 dedicated to a sub. All in all, it sounds fumpy [phonetic]. I wouldn't call it elegant. A couple of clever tricks live here on the ass end of the Compass. First of all, flip down tailgate speakers. When you're out there having a barbecue on the beach, you can piss off everybody near you by blaring your music too loud. And of course, the sub is back here to help toward that mission as well. And check this out, you've got a detachable cargo light that's actually a little flashlight. Cute.
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>> We have the big engine in our Compass. A 2.4 liter 4 that does 172 horsepower and a 165 foot pounds of torque. On a two-wheel drive Compass, you can even step down to a 2 liter 4, but we don't recommend it. Even this larger engine just doesn't feel like enough. True, it delivers a pretty solid 23/28 mpg, but it should for the lack of sap it produces. Put some of the blame squarely on this. The optional CVT automatic gearbox. In drive, it's a slippery devil. When you slap your own shifts out of it, things do tighten up a little, but this Daimler, Mitsubishi, Hyundai-developed motor just seems ill at ease in this car no matter what you do. Get the standard five-speed manual, save some money, and get a little bit of spine in this thing. By the way, the Compass is the only Jeep that can be had as a front-wheel drive vehicle, and the only one that never has a trail-rated badge on it. [slam door] Enough said. OK. Let's price out this little quasi Jeep, whatever it is. So, 236 will get you started. That's with an e-package, which includes a lot of the niceties that most of these come with. Then on top of that you're going to add 650 for you connect tunes. That's an LCD-based hard drive audio system with Bose acoustics, Bluetooth, but no nav. Another 1100 gets you this CVT variable transmission. Too variable for my taste. I'd skip it, and go with the five-speed manual, and by the way, the all-wheel drive is 1750 more.
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